I did not do well in posting this past week. However, we've still been watching our budget and trying not to make any extra expenses. Casey left for Hawaii this past Tuesday. We are missing him a lot this week, but I know that it is an incredible experience for him.
I was really struck today by the love of the Lord towards me. It has been one year since we left Wenatchee, WA and moved down to Fort Worth, Tx. Looking back over this past year I can see how much we needed a change, how much I needed a change. I've been listening to a lot of sermons by Matt Chandler, a pastor down here in the Dallas area (Village Church in Grapevine). He is going through chemo right now for a brain tumor. He's a young guy, but I think the Lord has given him amazing discernment and wisdom. One thing that has struck me in his teaching is on what he (or somebody else that he's quoting) calls Moral Deism. Basically that if you want to be a "good" Christian here is your list of do's and dont's. It is RAMPANT in the church today and basically it is living under the Law! I may blog on it more a little later as I'm still digesting this one. Anyway, look him up and take a listen.
We have been so blessed over the past weeks. These may seem like little things, but they were a direct provision from the Lord from His people. First, one of my neighbors gave us a meatloaf and some muffins. She does once a month cooking and had these left over and needed the freezer space for the current month. The boys loved the muffins and snacked on those all week. We'll have the meatloaf when Casey returns from Hawaii. Second, we have really needed another dresser. The boys were sharing a small four drawer dresser and they always had clothes everywhere because the didn't all fit. Well, another neighbor is moving and offered us a dresser. It was her grandmother's and it is old, huge and beautiful! What a blessing from the Lord through this special friend! So, we moved all our clothes around so I could use that one and now all our clothes fit! Thank you, Lord! Thirdly, yet another neighbor was moving and gave us some items to clean out their fridge. It was all stuff the boys really like that I don't buy for them! So, they thought it was special to bring home chocolate syrup, gogurts, hotdogs and ketchup (they love ketchup). It is little things, but the Lord knows how much each meant to me, His special care.
Okay, so about the challenge. I had to get a few things for Casey before he left for his trip, that was about $40. Also, spent about another $60 on groceries since I last blogged and then about $20 in toiletries too.
So, did we succeed in not spending more than we made? NO. We went over by about $170, but that was WAY better than May and June! Even though we still spent more than we made it was such a good exercise for me to look at every single dollar and be accountable for every dollar that the Lord gave to us. Casey will work his second job when school starts up again, so hopefully that will close the gap on our finances a little. I am learning to be content and to rejoice in all things. This is good (TIG).
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
July Challenge: Days 18 - 20
Well, we've had an exciting few days. I can definitely tell that the discipline of being on this challenge is starting to make we want to rebel. So far we are still on track, but I'm going to really have to watch things closely.
Day 18: We had a great day at church. We are going through a video series on Philippians by Matt Chandler that is just excellent. If you haven't heard of this guy, you should definitely look him up and take a listen.
I don't think I wrote down our expenses from Saturday (day 17), but it was about $50 in gas and then $6 at the corner market for a couple of things. I also went to CVS and spent $9 out of pocket and got back $18 in CVS reward dollars to use on my next purchase.
Day 19: Spent $0
Day 20: Well, I spent some today! These last few days have been so much harder to NOT spend and I'm not sure why, other than I just want to rebel and do what I want. I think part of it is that I got my (very little) check to cash from the mystery shopping that I do. It doesn't pay a ton, but it does bring in a little extra and I get some free stuff along the way too. Alright, so we did have a really fun day at a city waterpark in Arlington. We started off at Walmart so I could get some snacks and flip flops for the boys. Spent $20 there. It was about lunch time and Rosa's was right there...and it was taco Tuesday...so, I swung through the drive through and ordered 2 taco plates and a pint of beans and the total was $10. It fed all of us, so not a bad deal! We spent from 1-5 at the waterpark and the cost for that was $23.50. Well, by 5 pm we were needing some cold refreshment...our drinks had gotten pretty hot sitting in the sun for four hours, so we swung by McDonalds for drinks. (See, I start spending and it just snowballs!). Spent just over $4 there. So, in one day I managed to spend all of my check! But, I will say it again, we had a lot of fun!
Day 18: We had a great day at church. We are going through a video series on Philippians by Matt Chandler that is just excellent. If you haven't heard of this guy, you should definitely look him up and take a listen.
I don't think I wrote down our expenses from Saturday (day 17), but it was about $50 in gas and then $6 at the corner market for a couple of things. I also went to CVS and spent $9 out of pocket and got back $18 in CVS reward dollars to use on my next purchase.
Day 19: Spent $0
Day 20: Well, I spent some today! These last few days have been so much harder to NOT spend and I'm not sure why, other than I just want to rebel and do what I want. I think part of it is that I got my (very little) check to cash from the mystery shopping that I do. It doesn't pay a ton, but it does bring in a little extra and I get some free stuff along the way too. Alright, so we did have a really fun day at a city waterpark in Arlington. We started off at Walmart so I could get some snacks and flip flops for the boys. Spent $20 there. It was about lunch time and Rosa's was right there...and it was taco Tuesday...so, I swung through the drive through and ordered 2 taco plates and a pint of beans and the total was $10. It fed all of us, so not a bad deal! We spent from 1-5 at the waterpark and the cost for that was $23.50. Well, by 5 pm we were needing some cold refreshment...our drinks had gotten pretty hot sitting in the sun for four hours, so we swung by McDonalds for drinks. (See, I start spending and it just snowballs!). Spent just over $4 there. So, in one day I managed to spend all of my check! But, I will say it again, we had a lot of fun!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
July Challenge: Days 13-17
Happy Saturday! Today is the last Saturday choir rehearsal for Casey. I think we are both excited about that. He's had a 3 hour rehearsal every Saturday since classes got out in May for the trip to Hawaii that the choir is taking. He leaves in 9 days! I'm excited for him. He (and the entire choir) have put in so many hours of preparation for this trip.
Today was our weigh in day and I was a little nervous about stepping on the scale. I didn't really have bad days, but I didn't exactly have great days either. However, I did lose 1 pound which puts me at the 50 pound mark in weight loss. So, that is pretty exciting!
The boys had a great time at VBS this week. We took them to a nearby church where they went on a high seas adventure.
Day 13: spent about $26 at Kroger on a few grocery items. Milk, eggs, fruit, etc. I didn't have too many coupons to use this round, but I did find some good deals on clearance meat and lunch meat. Tuesdays are also what we call the "Food line" at the seminary. This week there was lots of good whole wheat breads, so I was able to get a few loafs of bread, english muffins and hamburger buns.
Day 14: spent $0
Day 15: Ethan came down for VBS in sweat pants. He said he had no shorts. This is not good since we had just finished all the laundry a few days before. So, I spent the afternoon going through their dresser and sorting clothes. (They each have two drawers in one dresser, so sometimes things get "lost" on the bottom). Well, sure enough, the kid has outgrown all but a few pairs of shorts! I saw that Old Navy was having a good online sale so I thought I'd look around. I went through Ebates (to get a percentage back) and they were giving 10% back on the purchase! I had a promo code for 15% off my order and free shipping on $50 or more. So, I got my cart total to $50 and then used the promo code to get my total down to $46 total, including tax. Now, I will get $4.20 back in my August Ebates too! Oh, and I got 11 items total: 7 for Ethan, 3 for me, 1 for Casey. Now, that's a good deal!
Day 16: Payday!!!
Paid phone, electricity, life insurance and tithe with NO bills remaining until the 1st of August!
Went to Kroger and spent about $48 on grocery items. Found eggs, yogurt, turkey breast (raw) and lunch meat all on clearance and saved about $5 using coupons.
So, here is what we ate this week for breakfasts: oatmeal, eggs, cereal, english muffins
Lunches: chicken salad, taco salad, sandwiches, soup, leftovers
Dinners: tacos, porkchops, baked chicken, hot dogs (boys), cereal
Today was our weigh in day and I was a little nervous about stepping on the scale. I didn't really have bad days, but I didn't exactly have great days either. However, I did lose 1 pound which puts me at the 50 pound mark in weight loss. So, that is pretty exciting!
The boys had a great time at VBS this week. We took them to a nearby church where they went on a high seas adventure.
Day 13: spent about $26 at Kroger on a few grocery items. Milk, eggs, fruit, etc. I didn't have too many coupons to use this round, but I did find some good deals on clearance meat and lunch meat. Tuesdays are also what we call the "Food line" at the seminary. This week there was lots of good whole wheat breads, so I was able to get a few loafs of bread, english muffins and hamburger buns.
Day 14: spent $0
Day 15: Ethan came down for VBS in sweat pants. He said he had no shorts. This is not good since we had just finished all the laundry a few days before. So, I spent the afternoon going through their dresser and sorting clothes. (They each have two drawers in one dresser, so sometimes things get "lost" on the bottom). Well, sure enough, the kid has outgrown all but a few pairs of shorts! I saw that Old Navy was having a good online sale so I thought I'd look around. I went through Ebates (to get a percentage back) and they were giving 10% back on the purchase! I had a promo code for 15% off my order and free shipping on $50 or more. So, I got my cart total to $50 and then used the promo code to get my total down to $46 total, including tax. Now, I will get $4.20 back in my August Ebates too! Oh, and I got 11 items total: 7 for Ethan, 3 for me, 1 for Casey. Now, that's a good deal!
Day 16: Payday!!!
Paid phone, electricity, life insurance and tithe with NO bills remaining until the 1st of August!
Went to Kroger and spent about $48 on grocery items. Found eggs, yogurt, turkey breast (raw) and lunch meat all on clearance and saved about $5 using coupons.
So, here is what we ate this week for breakfasts: oatmeal, eggs, cereal, english muffins
Lunches: chicken salad, taco salad, sandwiches, soup, leftovers
Dinners: tacos, porkchops, baked chicken, hot dogs (boys), cereal
Monday, July 12, 2010
July Challenge: Days 9-12
Day 9: I spent about $10 at Walmart (saved over $7 using coupons!) and then went to Kroger to get a few groceries. Spent about $33 there and saved over $10 in coupons! Here's another challenge to living on a tight budget: buying healthy food and not prepackaged, preservative, sugar and salt laden foods. Sometimes I just don't understand how buying three small apples for $1 can be the same price as 3-4 boxes of store brand mac and cheese.
Day 10: spent $0
Day 11: I have decided to give the "drugstore game" a try. This is essentially getting the best deals (ie. free or cheap) items at CVS and Walgreens type stores. I thought I'd give CVS a try and see how it would go. CVS had two items (that we could use) for FREE after Extra Care Bucks (ECB). So, Sunday I bought a pair of kid scissors and some ball point pens for .99 each plus tax. On my receipt, I received ECB's for .99 for each item to be used at another time. So, I spent $2.14 and received back $1.98 to be used at another time. I also purchased a double coupon Sunday paper for under $3.
Day 12: Well, today I officially overspent all that we had left until Friday! I did get some good deals and some $ will be coming our way in rebates so that makes it alright, right?
Today's deals: CVS - bought 6 shampoo/conditioners, 2 body wash, 3 deodorants for just over $10 and got back $8 in ECB's to use on my next visit! I was practically floating out of the store I was so excited!
Office Depot deals: these items I paid for out of pocket today, but will all be FREE and maybe + after rebate...stapler, Mr. sketch markers, sheet protectors and mechanical pencils. The rebates all have a set price (not purchase price) and I used a coupon...so we'll see if I get back more than what I paid! This was also a Mystery Shop place, so I will be reimbursed for up to $5 and will get paid $5 for shopping there today!
In other news...we took the boys to VBS at a nearby church where some of our neighbors attend. They had a good time. Since Casey and I do not hardly ever have evenings for dates, we are taking advantage of these mornings this week to spend some time together. Today he went shopping with me. :>) Which reminds me that I did spend another $14 at Half-Price Books today also (oops). I bought 13 books for Ethan and Josiah at $1 a piece. A few of them will be for school (like Charlotte's Web) and some are just for fun (Encyclopedia Brown).
Day 10: spent $0
Day 11: I have decided to give the "drugstore game" a try. This is essentially getting the best deals (ie. free or cheap) items at CVS and Walgreens type stores. I thought I'd give CVS a try and see how it would go. CVS had two items (that we could use) for FREE after Extra Care Bucks (ECB). So, Sunday I bought a pair of kid scissors and some ball point pens for .99 each plus tax. On my receipt, I received ECB's for .99 for each item to be used at another time. So, I spent $2.14 and received back $1.98 to be used at another time. I also purchased a double coupon Sunday paper for under $3.
Day 12: Well, today I officially overspent all that we had left until Friday! I did get some good deals and some $ will be coming our way in rebates so that makes it alright, right?
Today's deals: CVS - bought 6 shampoo/conditioners, 2 body wash, 3 deodorants for just over $10 and got back $8 in ECB's to use on my next visit! I was practically floating out of the store I was so excited!
Office Depot deals: these items I paid for out of pocket today, but will all be FREE and maybe + after rebate...stapler, Mr. sketch markers, sheet protectors and mechanical pencils. The rebates all have a set price (not purchase price) and I used a coupon...so we'll see if I get back more than what I paid! This was also a Mystery Shop place, so I will be reimbursed for up to $5 and will get paid $5 for shopping there today!
In other news...we took the boys to VBS at a nearby church where some of our neighbors attend. They had a good time. Since Casey and I do not hardly ever have evenings for dates, we are taking advantage of these mornings this week to spend some time together. Today he went shopping with me. :>) Which reminds me that I did spend another $14 at Half-Price Books today also (oops). I bought 13 books for Ethan and Josiah at $1 a piece. A few of them will be for school (like Charlotte's Web) and some are just for fun (Encyclopedia Brown).
Thursday, July 8, 2010
July Challenge - Days 4-8
Okay, so daily blogging is not my thing! I had a few days of not feeling well, so that will be my excuse. So, here's a quick recap on the last days and how we are doing on our challenge.
Day 4 (Sunday) - Spent $0 - probably the first Sunday that I haven't spent money on either breakfast or lunch (sometimes both) in months. I packed PB sandwiches and bananas for the boys and some oatmeal I could cook in the microwave when we got there. (We get to church by 7:30 am for Casey's worship team rehearsal, but classes don't start until 9:30 am.) Lunch is probably the hardest. It seems the only fellowship we (or I) get is going out to eat after church on Sunday, so that's probably the hardest part of living in a really tight, living by faith kind of budget.
Day 5 (Monday) - spent $46 on groceries at Albertsons. Used coupons and saved over $20. Casey filled up the van and spent $50 on gas.
Day 6 (Tuesday) - Okay, here's the rough one. We went with some friends to a Fort Worth Cats game. I bought the discounted tickets through Groupon in June, so the game didn't cost us anything this month. We had dinner before hand and said that we were NOT going to get anything to eat/drink while there. Well, something about sitting in the heat for a couple of hours changes your mind! So we dropped a $20 on 2 sno cones (for the boys), an ice tea (for me), and nachos (for Casey...I may have had a few bites). Well, we had a good time anyway. Our seats were right behind home plate. We left at the bottom of the 8th inning at 10:45 pm.
Day 7 (Wednesday) - Spent $0
Day 8 (Thursday) - Spent $0
Day 4 (Sunday) - Spent $0 - probably the first Sunday that I haven't spent money on either breakfast or lunch (sometimes both) in months. I packed PB sandwiches and bananas for the boys and some oatmeal I could cook in the microwave when we got there. (We get to church by 7:30 am for Casey's worship team rehearsal, but classes don't start until 9:30 am.) Lunch is probably the hardest. It seems the only fellowship we (or I) get is going out to eat after church on Sunday, so that's probably the hardest part of living in a really tight, living by faith kind of budget.
Day 5 (Monday) - spent $46 on groceries at Albertsons. Used coupons and saved over $20. Casey filled up the van and spent $50 on gas.
Day 6 (Tuesday) - Okay, here's the rough one. We went with some friends to a Fort Worth Cats game. I bought the discounted tickets through Groupon in June, so the game didn't cost us anything this month. We had dinner before hand and said that we were NOT going to get anything to eat/drink while there. Well, something about sitting in the heat for a couple of hours changes your mind! So we dropped a $20 on 2 sno cones (for the boys), an ice tea (for me), and nachos (for Casey...I may have had a few bites). Well, we had a good time anyway. Our seats were right behind home plate. We left at the bottom of the 8th inning at 10:45 pm.
Day 7 (Wednesday) - Spent $0
Day 8 (Thursday) - Spent $0
Saturday, July 3, 2010
July Challenge - Day 3
Well, we spent $0 today. So, that about sums up the financial update. :>)
On another note, I'm pretty sure I have an intolerance to wheat or gluten. So, for now, I'm going to avoid it all together. I've been thinking that wheat was bothering me for awhile, but every week or so I would still eat something anyway. Well, this past week I had one of those sandwich thins as a bun for my burger and felt miserable the next day. Last night I had a whole wheat flour couscous and had some major issues last night and through today. I spent some time this morning looking up symptoms and think I've had several over the last few months. When I started the Prism diet back in late January I stopped eating bread and wheat products for about two months. I've tried over the last couple months to have bread or pasta, but it never goes well with me. Now, the symptoms are not really new, I've had some degree of them over the last year or so, but they are much worse now after not having wheat for so long.
Speaking of weight loss, I lost 1.5 pounds this week and I was still feeling severely bloated this morning when we weighed! In all I've lost 45 pounds in I think 24/25 weeks. Not too bad!
Casey's doing great too. He just started and is down 16 pounds over the last 6 weeks.Today's Menu (kind of eclectic today):
Breakfast - made the boys pancakes, Casey had toast & fruit and I had oatmeal
Lunch - Ethan had leftovers, Josiah had PB&H, C & C - chicken & spinach salad
Dinner - veggie meatballs with rice (extra lean ground beef with shredded carrots and zucchini)
snacks - yogurt, fruit, almonds
Friday, July 2, 2010
July Challenge - Day 2
It's raining...again! Seems we've had a lot of rain and storms move through over the last week or so. But, it's a good thing. It had been so dry that the ground was cracking. I was telling our neighbors that the rain here is different from back home in Eastern Washington. Here, when it rains, it pours...none of that drizzle or sprinkle stuff. And, it stays warm. So, right now it is pouring outside and it is still in the low 80's.
Okay, so DAY 2 of the challenge went well and I even did some shopping! I took a stack of books to Half-price books and sold them for $10.50. And, I resisted the urge to spend it there, that was hard! Then, I went to Ross to return a pair of shoes that didn't fit. I was over 30 days so instead of a refund I got store credit, so really I HAD to shop there. I was given $10.81 in store credit and found another pair of sandals (that fit) for a total of $14.06. So, with my store credit I only spent $3.25.
My last stop was Kroger. (Side note: the new Kroger at TCU is really cool!) I purchased milk, bananas, spinach, yogurt and 92/8 ground beef and spent $12.57 total. So, my total net spending today was only $5.32!!! That should get us through the weekend. Oh, and I did get an iced coffee at Starbucks, but I used a gift card for that so no extra costs.
Today's menu:
Breakfast: eggs and cold cereal
Lunch: boys - PB&H sandwiches
C & C - Greek salad with steak
Dinner: baked chicken w/ spinach and couscous salad
Thursday, July 1, 2010
July Challenge - Day 1
Well, here we are at the beginning of July already. Casey finished up the summer class he was taking (Systematic Theology I). I think he did well so, yay!!! His next class won't be until Fall classes start up again mid-August. At the end of July he will be going to Hawaii with the Chamber choir and singing at the World Baptist Alliance (or something like that). Wish I could go too....
So, here's my summary of DAY1 of our challenge to not overspend in July:
- added paycheck to checking account to give us a new balance $$
- paid rent, health insurance, tithe, and hospital bill (from Josiah's emergency visit in April)
- packed dinner for Casey while he's working (no eating out expenses)
- oatmeal (me) and eggs (everyone else) for breakfast and finished off all the leftovers from the last few days for lunch and dinner
Balance of $$ plus a little cash on hand until next paycheck. The Lord provides! Paid all of the bills that were due and all of the bills we have remaining for the month aren't due until after the next paycheck...cool!
So, here's my summary of DAY1 of our challenge to not overspend in July:
- added paycheck to checking account to give us a new balance $$
- paid rent, health insurance, tithe, and hospital bill (from Josiah's emergency visit in April)
- packed dinner for Casey while he's working (no eating out expenses)
- oatmeal (me) and eggs (everyone else) for breakfast and finished off all the leftovers from the last few days for lunch and dinner
Balance of $$ plus a little cash on hand until next paycheck. The Lord provides! Paid all of the bills that were due and all of the bills we have remaining for the month aren't due until after the next paycheck...cool!
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